The present invention is directed to a formulation and process to prepare a pre-cooked, pre-formed filling unit for a consumable food product preferably including eggs as a principal component. It is anticipated that the consumable food product will be refrigerated and/or frozen for future heating within a microwave oven, convection oven or griddle for consumption as a portion of a food article. The consumable food product may be used as an ingredient within a food product such as a breakfast burrito, wraps, stuffed potatoes, and frittatas.
The pre-cooked, pre-formed filling unit reduces labor required by quick serve restaurants, and most other food service providers to prepare burrito's and other similar foods containing scrambled eggs, cheese, sausage, ham, vegetables and other similar ingredients.
In the past, consumable food has been formed by the filling of a mold with a liquid egg mixture and cooking the liquid egg within the mold. Alternatively, a liquid egg mixture may be pumped onto a flat cooking belt for cooking within an oven. Consumable food articles formed of eggs which have been produced according to the above identified methods unfortunately have the appearance and taste of commercial processing. Frequently these food articles after cooking are extremely dense and have the appearance of a cheese product. Consumable food articles including eggs formed through the use of a mold and/or cooking through use of a flat cooking belt frequently have undesirable sensory perceptions related to taste, texture, and taste differentiation between components included within the food article. A need therefore exists to eliminate the dense commercial processing appearance for consumable food articles including eggs which have been formed within a mold or upon a flat cooking belt and as cooked within an oven without rigorous control of processing and cooking parameters. A need also exists to form a consumable food article which is more appealing in appearance for use within a breakfast food product heated in a microwave oven for consumption by an individual.
Generally, it has been difficult to initially incorporate independent flavors into a food item to be refrigerated and/or frozen for future unthawing and heating at a desired time for consumption by an individual. Freezing and/or extended refrigeration of combined ingredients having distinct flavors exhibit the tendency for the flavors to blend into a composite taste. In the past, the individual components of the composite food product have not retained an individual taste. In addition, the freezing and/or extended refrigeration of a composite food article frequently leads to loss of texture, loss of cohesive texture, and the degradation of other sensory perceptions such as mouth feel, rubberiness, and/or the food product not being tender or appealing to an individual.
In the past, in order to obtain a desired homemade perception with respect to texture, taste, and other sensory perceptions, a food item was required to be consumed within a short period of time following cooking where no freezing and/or refrigeration of the food product has occurred. No techniques were known to extend the life and/or shelf life of the cooked food product under known refrigeration and/or freezing techniques.
Another common problem encountered during delayed consumption, extended refrigeration and/or freezing of a food product containing eggs following cooking, is that syneresis occurs which is the loss of water when frozen and reheated, or when stored for an extended period of time.
In the past, it has also been difficult to control proportions of individual ingredients for a food product to establish a uniform consumable food item. For example, a slight increase in the volume of onions may cause a significant variation in the taste for the composite food product. It is desirable to provide standardized consumable food products, having minimal taste variation between individual portions.
In the past, temperature variations of ingredients during processing have caused degradation in the sensory perceptions associated with the composite food article. Further, the over mixing of individual ingredients may also cause the degradation in the texture, mouth feel, and taste for the composite food article.